ATKM Tragedy

The novel All the Kings Men like many other literature works is tragic. I’m going to discuss what makes the novel so tragic. The main reason why the novel is tragic is because of the fact Willie appeared to be on a path of redemption. The novel started with Willie being obsessed with justice. He also had a genuine desire to help the common people. He spent many sleepless nights preparing speeches that actually contained a lot of information that could help people. Although his public speaking skills were painfully abysmal, his sincerity shone through to the public. People still came to his speeches and supported him even though he was a terrible speaker. The moment he finds out that he was never going to be the governor, he becomes blind to everything except his political career. This blindness contorts Willie into a power-hungry monster who uses anything to get what he wants. He now uses corrupted political methods such as black mailing to control his opponents and get what he wants. Unfortunately, Willie’s corrupted ways get him what he wants every time. Believing in his corrupted ways, he fails to realize what he’s doing is set on a path of destruction. Willie’s blindness causes him to neglect his fatherly duties as Tom becomes an arrogant snob who thinks that no one can tell him what to do. Willie is finally made aware of his blindness after Tom gets seriously injured during a football game. Willie symbolically says he can change a lot of things. Here, he is referring to his life and how he used corruption to get what he wanted. Willie appears to be on a path of redemption for a brief period of time. He tells Tiny Duffy to stop the contract with Larson because it’s corrupted. He even attempts to go back to Lucy. As things are turning for the better, the ultimate tragedy strikes him. Ironically, Adam Stanton believed that he got the director job at the new hospital because his sister had been sleeping with Willie. In reality, this was not the case as Willie really believed that Adam would be the best person to be entrusted with the new hospital. Not knowing this, Adam guns down Willie and Willie dies in the hospital a couple days later. The tragic nature of this novel arises from uncertainty. Readers do not know what would have happened had Willie not been murdered. Perhaps he would have gotten back with Lucy and changed his political career around so he never used corruption. On top of all this, he could’ve helped the common people through legitimate ways. All in all, he could have been remembered as a great political figure who had a mysterious desire to help the common folks. Instead, the readers are left to wonder at what Willie could have done. And therein lies the true tragic nature of this novel.